Judge Denies Amazon’s Bid to Dismiss FTC Lawsuit Alleging Retailer Tricked Users Into Signing up to Prime

A federal judge on Tuesday declined to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accusing retail giant Amazon.com Inc. of tricking users into signing up for Prime memberships and then making it overly complicated for them to unsubscribe.

U.S. District Judge John Chun in Seattle denied Amazon’s request to dismiss the FTC’s complaint, noting that courts grant motions to dismiss under the reasonable consumer test only in “rare situations” in which the facts alleged in a complaint “compel the conclusion as a matter of law that consumers are not likely to be deceived.”

“Here, a reasonable consumer seeking to complete a purchase on Amazon’s marketplace could miss the small print at the bottom of the page,” Judge Chun said.

“Even though the price of Prime and the fact that the subscription automatically renewed were bolded, the disclosures were in smaller text at the bottom of the page in black and white while larger and/or colorful text at the top of the page told consumers that they were receiving the gift of a free trial, saving money on the cost of shipping, and receiving faster delivery for ‘FREE,’” he concluded.

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